title: Individual- and area-level effects on mortality risk in Germany, both East and West, among male Germans aged 65+.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates whether mortality inequalities based on individual- and area-level deprivation exist at older ages in Germany, and whether there are differences between eastern and western Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on population and death counts according to the individual-level socioeconomic status of male German pensioners aged 65+ years in Germany in 2002-2004 were obtained from the German Federal Pension Fund. Area-level characteristics for the 439 German districts were incorporated. Multilevel Poisson models were fitted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individual-level socioeconomic mortality inequalities exist among elderly men in Germany. After controlling for differential population composition in the districts, we found that district-level factors contribute to the explanation of mortality inequalities in (western) Germany. The analysis further indicated that mortality and mortality inequalities tend to be higher in more economically deprived districts, and that minor mortality differences attributable to regional conditions exist in eastern Germany.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that regional conditions have moderate effects on health inequalities at older ages in (western) Germany, when the differential population composition in the districts is controlled for.
authors.affiliation: Population Research Centre, Faculty of Spatial Science, University of Groningen, PO Box 800, 9700 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands, e.u.b.kibele@rug.nl.
authors.forename: Eva U B
authors.initials: EU
authors.lastname: Kibele
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D062306:Geography, Medical; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D012307:Risk Factors; D017062:Small-Area Analysis; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D017132:Workplace